First Movement, "Organ Symphony" (no. 3)

Camille Saint-Saëns

Camille Saint-Saëns (trans. Mark Hindsley)

General Info

Year: 1886 / 197-?
Duration: c. 19:15
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Symphony
Publisher: Hindsley Transcriptions
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $128.00 | Score Only (print) - $25.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo/Flute I
Flute II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II-III
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Organ
Timpani

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78, was completed by Camille Saint-Saëns in 1886 at what was probably the artistic peak of his career. It is also popularly known as the Organ Symphony, even though it is not a true symphony for organ, but simply an orchestral symphony where two sections out of four use the pipe organ. The composer inscribed it as: Symphonie No. 3 "avec orgue" (with organ). Of composing the work Saint-Saëns said "I gave everything to it I was able to give. What I have here accomplished, I will never achieve again." The composer seemed to know it would be his last attempt at the symphonic form, and he wrote the work almost as a type of "history" of his own career: virtuoso piano passages, brilliant orchestral writing characteristic of the Romantic period, and the sound of a cathedral-sized pipe organ. The symphony was commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society in England, and the first performance was given in London on 19 May 1886, at St James's Hall, conducted by the composer. After the death of his friend Franz Liszt on 31 July 1886, Saint-Saëns dedicated the work to Liszt's memory.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Dallas (Tex.) Winds (Jerry Junkin, conductor; Bradley Welch, organ) – 24 March 2020 (scheduled but concert canceled)

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Le Carnaval des Animaux (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Onodera) (1886/2018)

All Wind Works

Aquarium (arr. Moore) (1886/2011)
Bacchanale (arr. Balent) (1877/2002)
Bacchanale (arr. Egner) (1877/1926)
Bacchanale (arr. Hubbell) (1877/1991)
Bacchanale from "Samson and Delila" (arr. Hanna) (1877/)
Carnival of the Animals (arr. Brand)
The Carnival of the Animals (arr. Bocook) (1886/2006)
The Carnival of the Animals (arr. Curnow) (1886/2008)
Carnival of the Animals, The (arr. Goto). See Le Carnaval des Animaux
Chorale for Wind Band and Melodic Percussion (arr. Giroux) (2015)
Danse Bacchanale (arr. Steiger) (1877/1985)
Danse Bacchanale (arr. Bocook) (1877/2004)
Danse Bacchanale (arr. Singleton) (1877/)
Danse Macabre (arr. Bender)
Danse Macabre (tr Hindsley) (tr. Hindsley) (1874/197-?)
Danse Macabre (arr. Laurendeau) (1874/1903)
Danse Macabre (arr. Brian Sheldon) (1874/)
Danse Macabre (arr. Slawson) (1874/2013)
Part One, "Organ Symphony" (no. 3 (tr. Hindsley) (1886/197-?)
Finale, Symphony No 3 in C (arr. Slocum) (1886/1974)
Finale to "Hail! California" (ed. Martin) (1915/2015)
Finale from "Symphony No. 3" (arr. VanDoren) (1886/2022)
First Movement, "Organ Symphony" (no. 3) (tr. Hindsley) (1886/197-?)
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (arr. Kessler)
La Princesse Jaune (arr. Odom) (1872/1980)
La Princesse Jaune (arr. Lake) (1872/1929)
La Princesse Jaune (arr. Schyns) (1872/2002)
Le Carnaval des Animaux (arr. Goto) (1886/2000/2012)
Le Carnaval des Animaux (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Onodera) (1886/2018)
March-Scherzo (arr. Marcus) (1853/2015)
Marche Dédiée aux Étudiants d'Alger (orch. Bouchel) (1921/1925)
Marche Heroïque (arr. Winterbottom) (1871/1906)
Marche Interalliée (orch. Balay) (1918/2014)
Marche Militaire Francaise (tr. Hindsley) (1908/1958)
Marche Militaire Francaise (arr. Lake) (1908/1913)
Mon Coeur s'ouvre à ta voix (tr. Niese) (1877/2012)
Morceau de Concert (arr. Respresas Carrera) (1887/2013)
Morceau de Concert (tr. Nelson) (1887/1979)
Orient et Occident (ed. Whitwell) (1869)
Orient et Occident (arr. Hauswirth) (1869)
Orient et Occident (ed. Reynish) (1869/1995)
Orient et Occident (arr. Schissel) (1869/2005)
Pas Redoublé (arr. Frackenpohl) (1887/1972)
Prelude and Processional (arr. Elkus) (1883/1957)
Second Movement, "Organ Symphony" (no. 3) (tr. Hindsley) (1886/200-?)
Sur les bords du Nil (ed. Hauswirth) (1908/2019)
Theme from "Samson and Delilah" (arr. Davis) (1877/1964)
Vers la Victoire (orch. Dondeyne) (1918/2014)

Resources

Saint-Saëns, C.; Hindsley, M. [19--]. Organ symphony (No. 3) : First movement (I) [score]. Concert Band Transcriptions: Urbana, Ill.
Symphony No. 3 (Saint-Saëns), Wikipedia Accessed 17 March 2020